1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an article dispenser for selectively dispensing contents that are loaded within the dispenser. In particular, the present invention is directed to a convenient dispenser for dispensing pills or tablets at selected intervals by a simple twisting or rotary movement.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dispensers are presently used for selectively dispensing a variety of articles. Particularly, dispensers have proven to be an effective device for dispensing and allotting the proper dosage of pharmaceuticals and vitamin supplements that are produced in pill or tablet form.
Various pill dispensers are available to the public. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,943,730 issued to Tregilgas, U.S. Pat. No. 3,570,707 issued to Finkel, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,188 issued to White each disclose a compact, hand-held pill dispenser for discharging prescribed pharmaceuticals into the palm of a hand. Each of these pill dispensers is generally designed to be preloaded by a physician, pharmacist, or other authorized individual. Specifically, these compact pill dispensers must be loaded prior to assembly, and then disassembled by the authorized individual for each subsequent loading. These pill dispensers are not intended to be easily opened, and the sequence in which the pills are discharged must be predetermined and prescribed by the physician. Further, although each of these pills dispensers is designed for easy operation, elderly and arthritic individuals may experience difficulty in operating such hand-held devices due to their compact construction.
Alternatively, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,744,672 and 3,926,335 issued to Dangles et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,952 issued to Grimes each disclose a pill dispenser that may be mounted on a horizontal surface. These pill dispensers are more versatile than the known compact pill dispensers because they need not be preloaded by a physician or similarly authorized individual. However, loading of the pill dispenser of Grimes requires that the pill dispenser be disassembled, while loading of each of the pill dispensers of Dangles et al. is restricted to a single compartment at a time, which may prove to be a time consuming and difficult task. Further, these pill dispensers do not enable pills or capsules to be retained at an easily accessible location once discharged from the pill dispenser.
As such, there remains a need for a versatile dispenser that is easy to operate and permits selective loading and dispensing of its contents, particularly of pills and tablets. There further remains a need for a dispenser that is inexpensive and easy to fabricate, and that remains intact during loading to avoid the misplacement of parts and the requirement of reassembly.